As you un box the Taboo, as with other Decware amps, there is not
much to inspire speculation that the sound will be impressive. Ah--- but looks
will decieve.

The Taboo brings something special to the listening
experience. The Taboo seems to pry open the soundstage. Space is defined and
resolved superbly. It's clarity and transparency allow the subtlest detail to
appear at the listening chair. Loud passages did have a bit of dynamic
compression.

This is an amplifier for those who love the inner voices
of the music's fabric. This amp is freakishly quiet in the inner transient
space. One of my references for microdynamic playback are trombones. The
instrument has an almost infinite number of positions on which the musician can
slide inside the same note. James Taylor's -Sweet Baby James -" Steamroller" has
a brass section with several trombones. Each player has enough elbow room to
blossom seperately.

There is a bit of extra bloom in the low bass, but
the bass is solid with little roll-off or woolliness. Bass guitars and kick
drums are distinct from one another. Eberhard Weber's -Endless Days- is a
reference of mine for bass. The amp handled the english horn, bass clarinet and
double bass easily . Webers's concerto for piano was spine tingling with every
player part of an estatic whole. Moments like this are the purpose of messing
with high end audio.

I will move the Taboo to another room later today.
More to follow............

Hello all, what a fun weekend I have enjoyed! Playing a lot of
music on a new amp. Steve stated two goals in the first post on this thread (1)
make a more powerful amp to attract first time buyers and (2) make an amp to
challenge his original design to the extent existing Zen owners could have an
improvement in two channel playback.

Have you ever attempted to
describe some thing as common as a cloud - to a blind person? All of the billowy
folds, shades of white and black to make shadows of grey. Have you seen the
ocean at a Caribbean or Hawaiian island? If I described the water as colors of
blue and green would that be close enough? Or better to give more description of
: starting at the beach the water is virescence green changing to turquoise and
on to prussian blue, and then to aqua marine, and finally where the horizon
blends sea to sky the color becomes cobalt.

To say this amp or that amp
has tonal color and good seperation of space on the sound stage is to choose
colors of green or blue when describing the ocean. Iwill try to describe the
Select Monoblocks vs the Taboo.

First, I have often told Steve his best
offering is the ZTpre I have owned or own or have auditioned the world's finest
pre's. To my ears the ZTpre is only bested by the First Sound Presence Deluxe Mk
IV at $16 Grand it is supposed to do things right. I have not auditioned the csp
except at Decfest ( it was the only pre Steve brought out I did not request the
ZT be brought out to A/B) The Taboo, ZTpre, and HDT's have a powerful synergy.
The TABOO was made for the ZT incomparable speed but NEVER etched.

Having owed the Select Mono's since Dec. of 2003 i have become quite
familar with thier signature. I have described the SM's as the amps for the
audiophile who has eaten wheaties. They can and will cause ear fatigue when
paired with the ZT and HDT's and unless the recording is superb there is
tendency to analyze this, that, or the other instead of gettin' those toes
tapping! Do not mistake my tone , the SM' s are the second best amp I have heard
in my 25 year love affair with this hobby. They do so many things right, but
they have been bested! Granted a weekend may not be enough to really get my ears
aroud this Taboo it wins the shoot out right now.

The Taboo spreads out
the interstitial spaces, has a presence, energy and musical gusto to beat the
select. It also creates a palpable vertical space between the players(
3D-images). It creates an absolute stability of the images. When strapped to the
ZTpre the speed coupled with the opening of the soundstage never smears attacks
or the decay of notes. I heard new musical harmonies on albums which have been
played hundreds of times with the Taboo conducting. These new sounds came
complete with a full palette of tonal colors to hear.

I have not done
justice with my description but the something this good should put a stretch on
telling some one else how it performs.